mardi 3 février 2015

An Italian company introduced Whatsim. The idea is to allow those who travel much further connected via instant messenger

The Italian company Zeromobile presented Whatsim a prepaid SIM card that allows unlimited use Whatsapp in worldwide paying 10 euros a year. The idea is to allow those who travel much staying connected via instant messenger WhatsApp (which recently added a Web version for Chrome), exchanging messages if they are connected to one of the 400 operators participating in the program, without worrying about the cost roaming.

The Whatsim, however, assumes that you only use it for messages and depend on a Wi-Fi connection for other tasks (surfing, exchange files, etc.); depending on the geographical area in which you are enabled a limited number of megabytes of data for sending and receiving messages.

The Argentina, for example, is in zone 3, which enables 15MB for messages (about 7500, according to the company); sending files (pictures, audio notes) requires extra credit. The service has no fixed cost or credit expiration.

It is not the first time that such service is offered; the Whatsapp itself became a mobile operator in Germany last April, to ally with the operator E-Plus to sell a prepaid SIM, which allows for ten euros make calls and connect to the Internet, but that does not discount the use Whatsapp credit data from that plan. And Facebook (the owner of Whatsapp) while making similar partnerships with operators around the world to allow free access to their social network.

The novelty in this case, the action is taking an independent company, Zeromobile, commanded by Manuel Zanella, the head of one of the first smart watches, the I'm Watch.